New Street Station: Redevelopment
Green Credentials
Lead Organisation: Network Rail
Partners:
The Project
Redevelopment of New Street Station, Birmingham – September 2015
Network Rail and its delivery partner Mace, backed by Birmingham City Council, Centro and the
Department for Transport, wanted to transform the station into one that the people of Birmingham
could be really proud of with sustainability credentials not previously achieved for a major train
station of this kind.
The project team worked hard to gain green credentials for the project by working closely with the
designers and regulatory bodies and through various recycling and energy monitoring initiatives.
Aims
The environmental aim was to convert a very dated and energy intensive system of heating, cooling
and ventilation, which was poorly maintained and controlled, into a modern, green, sustainable
development while adhering to stringent rail standards.
Challenges
Refurbishing a 1960s structure to meet modern day
sustainability requirements bought some challenges.
The funding partners set the goal of achieving a
BREEAM minimum rating of ‘Very Good’, so the team
knew that this would not be a straightforward target
to achieve against a background of complex
refurbishment in a rail environment.
New Street is the busiest station outside London and
the busiest interchange station in the UK with a train
leaving the station every 37 seconds. All the work had
to be done without causing disruption to the trains or
the live railway station which the project surrounds.
Additionally, complying with current legislation for
disabled access for a sub-surface station with
additional lifts, escalators and increasing concourse
capacity and retail facilities also significantly increases
energy requirements. Therefore it was very important that when such an increase in energy occurs
for the same building, low or zero carbon solutions must be explored as long as there is a viable case
to satisfy the triple bottom line for a sound economic, environmental and social case as well as a
safe one for the daily passengers through the station.
The Outcome
Results
The completed station incorporates:

Low energy and high efficiency LED lighting

60% of the toilet flushing demand provided by rainwater harvesting system

Efficient water spray taps for water conservation

Energy efficient lifts and escalators

Sub-metering for all water, heating and cooling to monitor energy consumption

Natural daylight for the concourse and natural ventilation where possible to minimise
energy consumption

Responsibly and legally sourced materials including timber

Use of alternative materials such as carpet tiles with the yarn made from recycled fishing
nets

Network Rail’s first ever station to incorporate a standalone Combined Heat and Power
(CHP) plant with the station electricity taken from the plant and waste heat transferred into
a city district heating scheme
Waste Recycling
To create space for the new station
concourse, over 7,500 tons of
concrete was removed from a disused
car park adjacent to the old station.
All the waste concrete removed from
this site has been taken to a waste
recycling facility for use on other
projects. 98% of the material from
the demolished Stephenson Tower
(now the site of the new John Lewis
department store) has also been
recycled.
The project is aiming to recycle/re-use an average of 95% of the non-hazardous waste material as a
minimum, which they have currently exceeded in elements of the demolition works and general
waste. They have been closely engaged with their supply chain regarding waste and the main waste
contractor Weir Waste, recently using a new local state of the art facility to segregate and recycle
construction waste.
Energy Monitoring
The redevelopment project has also installed a sub metering system which allows an accurate
method of measuring water, electricity and carbon usage across the worksite on a day to day basis.
This helps the project to monitor targets and reduce consumption throughout the works. This
information has been shared around the works site and canteen areas.
BREEAM
BREEAM has become the principle measure used to describe a building’s environmental
performance and Network Rail is dedicated to ensuring best practice for sustainability measures
where possible.
It has been a tough journey but the station has met its target to gain a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’
for the design stage. The project team is now monitoring construction activity to ensure that this
rating is maintained throughout the build and in the finished station.
Procurement and Site Management
Network Rail and its partners have been working closely with many external bodies throughout the
project, including The Carbon Trust, WRAP (Waste & Resource Action Programme) and NISP
(National Industrial Symbiosis Programme).
The project has also created and implemented a bespoke Project materials procurement policy to
ensure the supply chain sign up to legal and responsible sourcing of materials.
They also ensure the supply chain hold Environmental Management Certificates to ISO 14001 or BES
6001 or equivalent.
Keeping traffic off Birmingham’s streets
Working around an operational railway can be a challenge in itself; however it also provides a very
accessible resource that the project team uses to transport material into and from site, without
having to use carbon intensive lorries around the busy city centre.
Every week the train makes two journeys into the construction site from a logistics depot in
Bordesley, on the outskirts of the city, and is expected to keep 10,000 lorry journeys off
Birmingham’s roads throughout the life of the project.
Energy
The expansion of the station concourse and additional lifts and escalators will mean that nearly
double the amount of power is needed. So, in 2009, Network Rail commissioned the lead design and
engineering consultant Atkins to carry out a Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) study for the project.
Before pursuing renewable
technology it is imperative that
the building fabric is the first area
to improve, but one disadvantage
of using the existing 1960s façade
is that it becomes very costly to
improve with long payback times
and therefore unviable. New areas
of the façade were built to current
Part L of the Building Regulations.
Network Rail worked closely with
Atkins to make the main
concourse area naturally ventilated to minimise energy usage. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD)
modelling was carried out to ensure the new atrium worked effectively in extracting warm air in the
summer using the stack effect and the station concourse was not too cold in the winter. Some
seating and waiting areas were to be installed with radiant heating panels as a result of the
modelling.
Exploration of various renewable and low carbon technologies ranging from Ground Source Heat
Pumps (GSHP), biomass boilers, and Photovoltaic (PV) to cover 2,000m2 around the south of the
station façade was undertaken. Using an existing city centre location meant special constraints
excluded the use of many technologies such as biomass and wind.
When PV’s were discounted due to the John Lewis development on the South Side removing the
proposed PV area, Network Rail actively pursued the option of a CHP scheme to provide the station
with electric from gas and also looked at options of connecting into the local district heating network
to the north of the station. This would reduce carbon emissions from site micro generation, as
opposed to traditional power station generated grid electric, reduce transmission losses and use the
waste by-product of heat that is normally lost in the cooling towers of old power stations. The
preferred bidder Cofely was also very keen to use the subterranean network beneath the station to
supply the south of the city and avoid disruption around the city centre.
The dilemma for Network Rail for using a CHP system was that the station demand profile was more
electric intensive than heat: to a ratio of around 8:1. A heat partner was required to utilise surplus
heat generated from the CHP plant and John Lewis was an ideal candidate being attached to the
south of the station with its biggest store outside London. With John Lewis agreeing to sign up to a
heat agreement with Cofely, a carefully co-ordinated agreement was created that acquired
simultaneous signing of Energy Supply Contracts.
Once key partners and an outline scheme were identified, the major challenges of finding a location
for a proposed 1.6MWe engine and planning the pipework routes through the station and John
Lewis without disrupting a complex programme of works around the station redevelopment were
addressed. Identifying the location of the plant to satisfy The Clean Air Act and avoiding a large
chimney stack to satisfy local planning is just one of many obstacles the team have overcome in
pursuing low carbon technologies.
Lighting and Controls
All lighting is being changed to low energy LEDs and lighting controls significantly improved to
ensure lights are turned off in back of house areas for prolonged unoccupied periods and dimmed in
public areas where passengers are not present. All lighting shall be centrally controlled and
monitored via a Building Management System (BMS) based in the control room.
Water
The project aims to minimise the consumption of potable water by the use of dual flush cisterns in
all toilets along with low flow sensor taps. All water consumption is also to be monitored via the
BMS to allow close monitoring of consumption, something not regularly carried out at managed
stations. A leak detection system will also produce an alarm in the control room if a leak is detected
in the system.
The project has also constructed a large 100m3 rainwater collection tank that collects clean
rainwater from the roof and façade to provide for more than 60% of the stations toilet flushing
demand and irrigation for planting.
Other attenuation tanks have also been installed to prevent flooding from overwhelming the main
local sewer during periods of intense rainfall due to the future effects of climate change and
increased risk of flooding in the city.
Materials
Sourcing materials that have a low environmental impact has also been a key consideration.
Processes introduced on the project at an early stage ensure suppliers and contractors responsibly
source all materials to ISO 14001 or equivalent and legally source all timber to Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). The project
actively researched alternative materials and sourced carpet tiles from Miliken of which the yarn is
made from recycled fishing nets and the base from recycled off-cuts from car seats.
Land Use and Ecology
Despite the location for New Street having a low ecology site, Network Rail appointed suitably
qualified ecologists to advise and report on enhancing and protecting the ecological value of the site.
A key feature of the output was a 325m2 green wall with over 25 different species along the Moor
Street link to the east of the new station, creating a completely new welcoming route into the
station and concealing a long dark and dirty retaining wall.
In the Future
There is still some work to be completed on platforms and monitoring will be key to maintaining the
green credentials of New Street Station.
The Extra’s
Awards and endorsements

UK National Rail Industry Awards 2014 – Award in Environment & Sustainability for delivery
of BREEAM Excellent rated ‘Lampblock’ Building on Platform 1b for Cross Country Trains
Accommodation.

Winner – Award for Excellence in Sustainability at the Greater Birmingham Chamber of
Commerce Awards.

Runner up - UK GreenBuild 2013

Runner up – Environment & Energy Awards 2015

Runner up – Sustainability Leaders Awards 2015

Highly Commended Awards for work in Sustainability at the Network Rail Aspire Awards.
In addition, the redevelopment was short-listed for the Best Urban Regeneration Project in the
People's Choice Award at the MIPIM, the world’s biggest property trade fair in France, and the
Contract of the Year award at the World Demolition Summit was given to Coleman & Company who
removed over 7,500 tonnes of concrete to create the concourse.
Links and Downloads
Network Rail – Birmingham New Street redevelopment
New Street: New Start
Mace – New Street Refurbishment
Contact Details
Azhar Quaiyoom, Project and Sustainability Manager, Network Rail.